UX Researcher

ABOUT THE ROLE

As the UX Researcher, you will serve as the primary research partner supporting Accela's inbound product teams. You will lead and execute user research initiatives that help product and design teams better understand customer needs, behaviors, and pain points across the Accela Civic Application (ACA), Payments, Platform Integrations, Administration, and Civic Platform product areas.

In this role, you will design and conduct usability studies, synthesize research findings, develop personas and journey maps, and translate customer insights into actionable recommendations that improve the user experience. You will work closely with Product Management, UX Design, Engineering, and other stakeholders to ensure product decisions are informed by meaningful customer research.

SPECIFIC RESPONSIBILITIES

• Plan, design, and conduct qualitative and quantitative user research studies across multiple product areas, including ACA, Payments, Platform Integrations, Administration, and Civic Platform.
• Lead usability testing efforts to evaluate product experiences and identify opportunities for improvement.
• Analyze research findings and synthesize insights into clear, actionable recommendations for Product, Design, and Engineering teams.
• Develop and maintain user personas, journey maps, and other research artifacts that support product strategy and design decisions.
• Partner with Product Managers and UX Designers to define research objectives and align studies with business and customer goals.
• Conduct user interviews, surveys, contextual inquiries, and other research activities to better understand customer needs and behaviors.
• Communicate research findings through presentations, reports, workshops, and stakeholder discussions.
• Advocate for user-centered design principles and promote the integration of research throughout the product development lifecycle.
• Establish and maintain research best practices, methodologies, and repositories of customer insights.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to ensure research findings are incorporated into product roadmaps and design solutions.

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS

• Bachelor's degree in Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), Psychology, Cognitive Science, Human Factors, User Experience, Research, or a related field, or equivalent practical experience.
• 3+ years of experience conducting UX research for software, SaaS, or digital products.
• Experience planning and executing usability studies and other user research methodologies.
• Strong analytical skills with the ability to synthesize complex findings into actionable insights.
• Experience developing personas, journey maps, research reports, and customer experience artifacts.
• Experience conducting user interviews, surveys, usability testing, and other qualitative and quantitative research methods.
• Strong communication and presentation skills with the ability to influence cross-functional stakeholders.
• Experience working collaboratively with Product Management, UX Design, and Engineering teams.

DESIRED QUALIFICATIONS

• Experience supporting multiple product teams simultaneously in a fast-paced SaaS environment.
• Experience conducting research for enterprise software or public-sector technology solutions.
• Familiarity with accessibility standards and inclusive design principles.
• Experience with research tools such as UserTesting, Dovetail, Maze, Qualtrics, UserZoom, or similar platforms.
• Knowledge of service design, customer journey mapping, and experience strategy methodologies.
• Experience establishing UX research processes and scaling research practices across an organization.